Today's second update: Chapter 2335! 2/3!
Guan guan cry the ospreys, on the islet in the river; the fair and graceful lady, a gentleman's worthy match.
"Guan guan" was the call of the osprey. Yet, despite searching through ancient and modern history and finding many supposed matches, none of the legends concerning ospreys aligned with reality.
It was more like a kind of bird through which the ancients entrusted their hopes for beautiful love stories.
What we were going to discuss was whom this well-known verse from the Book of Songs, still sung by later generations despite the passage of ages, was truly about.
It was an era when Huaxia stood at its peak—or rather, a dynasty: the Great Zhou!
The love story recorded in "Guanju" was that of King Wen, the founding ruler of the Great Zhou, and his wife, Tai Si. The fair lady was Tai Si, mother of Wu King, Duke of Zhou, and Ji Chang's other eight sons, while the gentleman was King Wen, Ji Chang.
Ospreys cried guan guan, and swans called softly. According to the records of Qufu Academy, they corresponded precisely to Yuezhuo and the swan, two of the Five Phoenixes.
As an aside, Tai Si, Tai Jiang, and Tai Ren were collectively known as the "Three Tais." Later generations used "madam" as an honorific for married women, signifying virtue worthy of the Three Tais. During the era of history's sole female emperor, Ji Chang was honored as Emperor Wen, while Tai Si was posthumously titled Empress Wendin, meant both to establish a benchmark for herself and to use Tai Si's good name to embellish her own~
Another story was likewise connected to King Wen, Ji Chang.
It could be summed up in four words: "Phoenix Cries Qishan"!
But more precisely,